Famous Icon Takes Final Breath After Battling Pneumonia, Makes Headlines 2 Years Later

An iconic inventor has just passed away. At the age of 96, Robert N. Hall died. Dr. Hall is famous for his amazing inventions, most notably the microwave oven and the red scanners used at retail stores.

"Robert N. Hall’s legacy can be found at almost every checkout counter — that little red blinking laser scanner that reads bar codes on milk cartons, boxes of light bulbs, price tags dangling from a new jacket and just about everything else that can be bought in a store. A product of his inventive labor can also be found in most kitchens nowadays: the microwave oven," reported the New York Times.

What is extremely strange is the fact that Dr. Hall's death is making headlines for the New York Times, even though he died in 2016. Apparently, the New York Times was working on his obituary in preparations for his death when they learned he died on November 7, 2016.

https://twitter.com/bprasad/status/995014190254514176

"The world is indifferent and transactional, even if not cruel. We use his #innovations every day but don’t remember him even on his death. There are few like him, but many that we treat like him... Thank you, Dr. Robert Hall," wrote one Twitter user.

"Yet for all the widespread familiarity of what Dr. Hall wrought as a remarkably ingenious physicist, his death, at 96, on Nov. 7, 2016, gained little notice. An announcement paid for by his family appeared in two upstate New York newspapers — The Times Union of Albany and The Daily Gazette of Schenectady — and General Electric, in a company publication, published a remembrance a month later. But otherwise the news of Dr. Hall’s death did not travel very far," wrote the New York Times.

Dr. Hall was an amazing inventor and was remembered for his problem-solving skills and his passion for finding solutions.

“You see there is a problem to be solved,” he said, “and you think about it, and you solve it, and it’s a thrill," said Dr. Hall in 2012.

Although the media is just now posting about Dr. Hall, we're glad it is being reported. An amazing man like Dr. Hall deserves to be remembered for his wonderful contributions to society.